This invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for moving objects. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus and method is utilized by a single operator to move patients, that are confined to bed, from one place to another.
Both manual and mechanical means and methods have been known in the art for quite some time for moving heavy objects from one place to another. In a hospital setting, groups of people, typically nurses, are often utilized to move bed-bound patients. Many mechanical devices are also known. A number of prior art patents disclose patient lift and transport devices in which an overhead crane or hoist lifts the patient from the bed. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,051 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,822). In these devices, a caster-mounted crane or permanently mounted overhead hoist is used to lift a patient in a sling. These devices require the sling to be slid under the patient before the crane is activated. This operation can be difficult or impossible for one person to perform and is also likely to cause discomfort to the patient. A third drawback of these types of devices is that they are relatively expensive.
A second class of device utilizes a soft, underlying pad to allow the patient to be turned while in the bed. These inventions provide mechanical improvement to a technique that has been around since the turn of the century. In the original technique, the patient lay on the turning pad and, when it became necessary to turn the patient, the attendant would pull one side of the pad causing the patient to roll along the long axis of his body away from the direction the pad was pulled. More recent improvements have substituted mechanical force for the force exerted by the attendant. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,169, the pad is actually a long strip attached at one end to a feed spool and at another end to a take-up spool. When the patient is to be turned, the take-up spool is mechanically turned, causing the pad/strip to move and turning the patient. A second turning pad variant is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,587. In this invention, the turning pad is wrapped around the patient and connected with straps to form a broad belt around the patient's mid-section. Mechanical torque is then applied to the belt causing both belt and patient to turn.
Yet another variation of the turning pad is the sliding pad, which is placed under the patient to facilitate moving the invalid transitionally from one surface to an adjacent surface. An example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,122. In this invention, the pad is placed under the patient. Then the edges of the pad are wrapped around the patient and connected together. Handgrips along the sides of the pad allow attendants to slide the patient from one bed onto an adjacent bed or onto another surface.
Still another variant of the basic sliding pad describes a pad consisting of two layers of material that are free to slide relative to each other. The coefficient of friction between these two layers is low, facilitating the sliding action. One such sliding pad is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,232, wherein a lubricant is used to reduce the friction between the inside surfaces of the pad.
A third approach to moving invalid patients is embodied in the turnover bed described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,089. In this invention, the bed assembly itself turns over to allow the patient to be deposited onto a separate mattress.
Other devices use the bed sheet itself to hoist the patient, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,453. This invention lifts the patient from his bed by, in effect, making the sheet on which the patient lies into a sling.
In addition to the hazards and discomfort caused by rolling or sliding or turning a sick or injured person, a drawback to the means and methods for moving objects and/or patients known in the art is that a large number of individuals, certainly more than one, are required to accomplish most of them. In a period of downsizing medical staff, this is a severe hardship. Further, most of the prior art devices require lifting the patient to insert a lifting means underneath the patient, which is extraordinarily difficult for one person to accomplish and can be extremely painful for patients in delicate conditions. A still further drawback is that prior art devices utilizing the sheet as a lifting means do not enable the user to remove the soiled sheet itself.
Thus, there is a need in the art for providing a means and method which enables a single person to effectively move heavy objects such as patients, without having to first roll, turn, or slide the patient, and further, while enabling a single user to lift the patient clear of the bed so that the bed linen can be changed subsequent to the move. It, therefore, is an object of this invention to provide an improved means and method for lifting objects, that can be operated by a single person, without need for rolling, turning or sliding the object first, thereby also enabling the retrieval, cleansing and replacement of associated linens, for example.